UUP chiefs vote to withdraw from power-sharing

Senior members of the Ulster Unionist Party have voted to withdraw from the North’s power-sharing government over claims the Provisional IRA (PIRA) still exists.

UUP leader Mike Nesbitt proposed the exit in response to a police assessment that structures of the supposedly defunct paramilitary organisation remain in place and some of its members were involved in a recent Belfast murder.

The UUP’s ruling executive approved Mr Nesbitt’s recommendation at a meeting in an east Belfast hotel.